******************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Community Care Fund Secretariat:
The Community Care Fund (CCF) today (October 31) launched two assistance programmes, namely the "Subsidy for Elders who are on the Waiting List of Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases) for Household Cleaning and Escorting Services for Medical Consultations" and the "Subsidy for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Recipients Living in Rented Private Housing" . The two assistance programmes are administered by the Social Welfare Department (SWD). Details are as follows:
Subsidy for Elders who are on the Waiting List of Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases) for Household Cleaning and Escorting Services for Medical Consultations:
This assistance programme aims to provide elders from low-income families who are living at home and on the waiting list of "Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases)" with a subsidy for household cleaning and escorting services for medical consultations, so as to enable them to maintain a hygienic home environment and attend medical consultations as scheduled. Beneficiaries must be aged 65 or above, on the waiting list for "Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases)" on or before July 31, 2011, currently living at home without receiving any community care services for the elderly subvented by the SWD and whose monthly household income does not exceed 75 per cent of the Median Monthly Domestic Household Income applicable to their household size. This programme is expected to benefit about 4 000 people.
Letters enclosing application forms will be issued by the SWD to notify the elders concerned starting from next month. Applicants are required to submit the completed application forms together with all necessary documents by post or by hand to the CCF Team of the SWD on or before January 31, 2012. Eligible elders can receive household cleaning and escorting services for medical consultations provided by service providers approved by the SWD for a maximum period of 12 months at a monthly service subsidy of $480. It is expected that the elders concerned may be provided with the services starting from November 2011 at the earliest.
Subsidy for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Recipients Living in Rented Private Housing:
This assistance programme aims to provide CSSA households living in private housing and paying a rent which exceeds the maximum rent allowance under the CSSA Scheme with a one-off subsidy so as to relieve their financial burden as a result of the periodic increase of rent.
Beneficiaries should be, as at July 1, 2011, tenants of private housing, whose monthly rental payment exceeds the maximum rent allowance under the CSSA Scheme. Each eligible one-person and two-or-more-person CSSA household will be provided with a one-off subsidy of $1,000 and $2,000 respectively. This programme is expected to benefit about 23 000 CSSA households.
The CSSA recipients concerned are not required to submit applications. The subsidy will be deposited directly into the eligible CSSA recipientsˇ¦ bank accounts by the SWD according to the rental information reported by the CSSA recipients. The subsidy is expected to be disbursed in December 2011 at the earliest.
For details of the above assistance programmes, please visit the CCF website (www.communitycarefund.hk) or the SWD website (www.swd.gov.hk). For enquiries, please contact the SWD hotline (Tel: 2343 2255) or the CCF Team of the SWD (Tel: 3422 3090).
Ends/Monday, October 31, 2011
Issued at HKT 14:16
NNNN
